The present invention relates to magnetic tape playing machines, and particularly to those machines permitting automatic changing of tapes which have been played. A number of player-changer devices for magnetic tapes have been proposed in the prior art. Devices of this type are exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,592,975 and 3,752,484. The devices of these patents employ endless magnetic tape cartridges, and in the latter patent, the cartridges are stacked one atop another in a guide box and are ejected from the machine when they have been played. In the former patent, cartridges are arranged in a carrousel fashion. In both patents, and transducer and drive devices are movable into and out of contact with the cartridges.
It would be desirable to provide an automatic player-changer for magnetic tapes in which endless tape cartridges could be quickly and easily inserted into and removed from a magazine, and in which the movement of the magazine to position sequential cartridges in a playing position would be smooth and comparatively noiseless. Moreover, it would be highly desirable to provide the player-changer with mechanical counter and transducer stepping means of simple construction for stepping the transducer from one position to the next as the playing of sequential tracks of a multi-track endless magnetic tape proceeds.